Hot Corner: An unnecessary warning

Tennessee has not defeated Florida since 2004. The Vols are favored to win Saturday's game at Neyland Stadium. (AP Photo)

The phrase "it's always fun until somebody gets hurt" was said long
before college football and basketball fans began storming the court or
field after triumphant victories, but I can't think of anything for
which it better applies.

With that certainly in mind, Knoxville's Police Department sent out a
warning Wednesday saying that anyone who does just that after a Tennessee
victory Saturday over rival Florida would be promptly arrested. The
Vols, of course, will have to beat the Gators for the first time since
2004 in order to inspire fans to rush onto the field -- you'd think.

This announcement was certainly well-intended -- the police's
version of covering its bases -- but only bad can come from this.

I'm not here to debate whether or not Tennessee fans should or
should not feel compelled to storm the field if the Vols beat Florida
for the first time in eight years. I am here to say that it has
ultimately given its hometown team's opponent the kind of bulletin board
material a coach could only fathom.

Before last year's matchup, Florida coach Will Muschamp used
harmless comments made by Tennessee's wide receivers about their height
advantage against Florida's cornerbacks as motivation. Going from that
to the KPD's warning is like upgrading from a tin can to the
iPhone5.

It's also going to plant seeds in the heads of yahoos who will now
be compelled to storm the field simply because an authority figure is
saying they can't. We all have a friend of a friend who fits this
description and is misguided enough to make a bad decision when they're
flush with liquid courage.

What makes the storming of a field or court so special is its
perceived spontaneity. Ninety-nine times out of 100, it's completely
harmless.

Protecting against the 1 percent is all well and good, but it shouldn't have been publicized.